To a spectator of the newly released Star Wars movie, it's not hard to imagine that the film was going to be a success at the box office. For the Hollywood executive however, there is a much more scientific approach that has been adopted to predict the movie's likely success.

The usage of big data to forecast the likeliness of an outcome is no new phenomenon. Understanding the factors that determine the success of a movie and what to look for when modeling the data, enables analysts to support strategic decision-making.

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The success of the franchise [Star Wars] is likely no accident. In a world where nothing is a sure bet, Hollywood executives use predictive analytics to help make strategic decisions about which films they should throw their support behind. By using past data — such as how well a particular genre is performing, the box office receipts for related films, and the popularity level of starring actors — analysts can predict whether or not a film will be a hit.